And Spring Came in the Evening
by wordslinger
Summary: Clerical error or fate? Sometimes it's hard to tell. Jerza. Complete.


_**Author's Note: For Jelulz based on the following tumblr prompt -**_

 _ **"Imagine your OTP meeting as their hotel screws up both of their reservations and they have to share a room until the hotel fixes the problem.**_

 _ **Bonus if there's only one bed.**_

 _ **Double bonus if they (at first) don't get along at all."**_

 _ **Zero tweaking was needed because she picks the best ones.**_

* * *

If there was one thing Jellal could claim as absolute fact – one lesson he'd learned the hard way far too many times – it was that things could _always_ get worse. Not in the _Well, things could always be worse!_ way. That statement implied there was a silver lining somewhere; a proverbial bright side. But just as the winter would always come and choke out the blossoms of spring and summer, a situation could – and _would_ – always get worse. As if _Worse_ was a destination and all he could do was hold on until the train car finally rolled to a catastrophic stop becoming a bizarre wreckage of things that made sense not a half hour before.

He'd also learned there was no point in contemplating how he ended up in these situations. Jellal wasn't a man with proclivities toward pondering futility. His larger interests were of resolution. A concept the night concierge at this hotel of insanity didn't seem to grasp in the slightest.

"No, no," Jellal interrupted – _again_ – patting the countertop in a frustrated effort to _somehow_ make the concierge see reason. "I understand the overbooking policy, believe me I do. I was in college once, too, and had a job just like yours. I get it – and I don't mean that in a condescending way at all. I just –"

A hand slapped the countertop with all the madness Jellal felt gathering inside his own body. _"Listen to me,"_ the woman beside him hissed. "I don't _care_ what your policy is, I don't _care_ how this happened, and I don't _care_ about any of the nonsense that's been spewing from your mouth since we got down here. _What I care about is my goddamn room!"_

Jellal's eyes slid closed and he took a deep breath. He'd already decided the woman was a loose cannon and would probably be the reason they both ended up on the curb with no rooms at all. The concierge visibly cringed.

"I – I'm sorry. I truly am, but the hotel's been booked for weeks because of the conference and I'm afraid there's nothing I can do until at least tomorrow."

The woman fumed and Jellal did his best to remain as calm as possible. "Do you know if any of the other hotels on this side of town have vacancy?"

"I'm afraid not," the concierge canted his body toward Jellal. "Between the trade conference, and the rolling blackouts on the south side of Crocus I doubt you'll find another room within the city limits. Residents are hard pressed, and the snow storm couldn't have come at a worse time."

"Yes," the woman interrupted. "I'm sure it's a bad time for hotel business. How horrible for _you_ to not have a single room for every reservation."

"I'm terribly sorry Miss Scarlet."

"I don't believe you."

"This back and forth is pointless," Jellal cut in. "What's your solution? Do you have one?"

"Well," the concierge began tremulously. "Sharing the room seems to be the best –"

Miss Scarlet barked out a laugh. "I'd rather sleep in the lobby."

"I'm afraid that's against hotel policy…"

"She's joking," Jellal said with a sideways glare. He was tired, and cold, and all he wanted was a hot shower and sleep. Many, _many_ hours of sleep. Sharing a room with the volatile Miss Scarlet wouldn't be so bad. They'd each have a bed and could avoid interaction until the hotel manager returned in the morning. "I don't mind sharing a room."

"You haven't _seen_ the room," Miss Scarlet said with a knowing smirk.

"Only because you stopped me from stepping through the doorway the moment I slid my key into the card reader!"

She shrugged. "I thought you were an intruder."

"This is a four star hotel and _I had a key!"_

Miss Scarlet shrugged again and folded her arms across her chest. "A lady can't be too careful."

"So have you decided to share then?" The concierge's voice was fearfully hopeful. "Mister Fernandes, shall I call a porter to return your bags to the room?"

Jellal sighed heavily. "No, it's fine. I'll bring them myself. Thank you for your assistance." He turned from the counter and trudged back toward the elevator. Miss Scarlet caught up to him as they waited for the lift to reach the bottom floor. The way her heels clicked on the polished marble tile felt like a jackhammer to his brain.

"Why did you thank him? He didn't actually do anything."

"Because I'm not an asshole."

"Are you suggesting that _I_ am an asshole?" she asked with a frustrating indignance.

"I'm saying we could've reached the same conclusion ten minutes ago if you'd reigned in your explosive ire."

Miss Scarlet leaned against the wall of the elevator and stared at the floor. "Maybe I needed to vent."

"At my expense?"

"You're not the only one in a shitty situation, _Mister Fernandes_."

"I won't bother you at all." Jellal found himself supplicating her even though none of what had happened was his fault. "I'll stick to my own space and tomorrow morning we can forget it ever happened."

"You say that _now_."

He chose to ignore the snide comment and allowed Miss Scarlet to open the door to their room with her own key. Once inside, several puzzle pieces fell into place. Jellal glanced around with dismay before allowing his eyes to fall on the only bed in the room.

"You should've let me see the room _before_ we went down to the concierge desk," he mumbled. "This changes everything."

He'd officially arrived at _Worse_.

* * *

Jellal shifted in the semi-reclining chair and reached behind him to fluff the pillow once again. He knew it wouldn't help. This chair was an embarrassment to all chairs everywhere and he was seriously contemplating the floor as a better option. Either way, he knew he had to make a decision before Miss Scarlet emerged from the bathroom. He didn't want to still be scooting around and cursing under his breath when she climbed into the bed. She needed to see that he was perfectly capable of keeping to his own space and not at all longing for a few inches of mattress. Jellal refused to make things more awkward than they already were.

He didn't look at her when the bathroom door finally opened flooding the room with yellow light. The silence that hung between them was thick and unapproachable. Which was fine. He only had to make it until the next morning and then life would carry on. Miss Scarlet switched the bathroom light off and Jellal listened to the sound of her body sliding against the sheets. He faced the wall in his chair and finally decided that once she'd gone to sleep he'd move to the floor.

"I'm sorry about earlier," she said quietly.

"It's not your fault and you don't owe me any apologies." He wished he didn't sound so irritated, but it'd been a long day.

"I'm still sorry."

"Well, I apologize too. I could've handled the situation with a good deal more grace."

She snorted and he frowned. "Do you always do that?"

"What?"

"Apologize for perfectly understandable behavior? This wasn't your fault either, you know."

"I just want to get through the night without any more turbulence. So, yes, I'm trying to apologize."

"For what, though? It was me who blew up at the concierge and didn't give you all the facts before agreeing to share the room."

"It makes me feel better," he mumbled wishing she would just leave it alone.

"It makes you feel better to shoulder blame for something that you didn't cause?" She paused and he heard the sheets ruffle. "Are you a masochist or something?"

Jellal sighed heavily. "Miss Scarlet –"

"It's Erza."

"Fine. Erza, then. I'm sorry for apologizing. You're right. This mess isn't my fault either."

She laughed and he tried not to like the sound of it. "Still apologizing, huh? You're a pro."

"Can we just go to sleep now? It's been one hell of a day and tomorrow will be long." He shifted around in the chair again and stifled an uncomfortable groan in the pillow.

"It'll be even longer with a strained neck or back. Did you really think I'd make you sleep in the chair?"

"I'm fine."

"You really _are_ a masochist." Suddenly she was beside him and poking his arm. "Don't be stupid. Just get in the bed."

"But –" He didn't want to protest too much because the chair made the bed look like heaven.

"Listen, Fernandes –"

"It's Jellal."

"Right then, _Jellal,_ we're both adults. We both have a long day tomorrow filled with boring meetings and the unfortunate necessity of networking. I'll feel bad if you suffer because you tried to be noble and insisted on a horrible chair instead of the bed."

"It's not _that_ horrible…" Erza snatched the pillow from behind his back and head and tossed it on the mattress.

"Get in the bed," she said firmly. Jellal clutched the blanket and moved to sit on the edge of the bed tentatively. "There now, see? It wasn't that hard."

"Do you always order men into your bed with such ascendancy?"

"That's a pretentious word, sir. I can't call you by your first name if you insist on such pompous verbiage." She crawled past him to the other side of the mattress and slid beneath the sheets again. "Now, do we need to make rules or can I trust you not to roll over and try to molest me while I'm asleep and helpless?"

Jellal rolled his eyes and fell against the pillows. The bed was absolutely better than the chair. "Somehow, Miss Scarlet, I doubt you are _ever_ entirely helpless."

* * *

At promptly 7:21 a.m. the sun painted room 4328 with stripes of morning light and Jellal's eyes creeped open. There was a weight on his arm and part of his chest and it took him a good minute to recall the events of the previous evening. A mess of tangled, red hair fanned out over the pile of blankets and tickled his chin. Before he could fully realize the implications of the position he'd been pinned into, his phone blared an alarm. Since he couldn't quite sit up, Jellal reached wildly for the device on the side table… and knocked it to the floor.

Erza stirred and groaned. "Just five more mi –" her hand landed on his shoulder and in a horrible moment of realization she shoved herself off him. Jellal, still trying to grab his phone to stop the alarm, lost his balance, and tumbled out of the bed. When he'd stopped the noise and righted himself, he found Miss Scarlet glaring at him from behind the shield of a sheet.

"Were you trying to cop a feel or what?"

Jellal's face turned a bright red and he teetered between shock and outrage. " _Excuse me?_ I believe _you_ were on top of _me!_ I'm the one who should feel violated here!"

"I should've let you stay in the chair," Erza seethed hopping off the bed and stepping around him.

"But I didn't do anything! I woke up on my side of the bed and now I'm on the floor!" She slammed the bathroom door behind her. _"The floor that's still on my side of the bed, by the way!"_

Erza didn't speak to him for the remainder of the time they spent dressing and preparing for the day ahead. He couldn't have gotten out of the room fast enough. The woman was one pendulum swing away from total insanity, he decided, and hoped to whatever gods in existence that the hotel manager could find him a single room. He skipped the breakfast being served in the ground floor conference room and headed straight to the front desk.

Five minutes later, Jellal thought his head would finally explode.

"I'm sorry, Mister Fernandes, I'm not seeing any notes from the night concierge regarding a room shortage."

" _What?!_ Are you kidding me?"

"If there was a shortage, where did you sleep last night? It's against hotel policy to –"

"I had to share a room with a woman I'm pretty sure has a serious temper problem and a less than solid grip on reality. I can't do that again and I know there's no other vacancies within the city limits –"

"Yes, sir, there's a problem with the electrical grid and there've been some blackouts due to the snow storm and –"

"Listen," Jellal interrupted. "I get all that. My point is both Miss Scarlet and I have valid corporate reservations for the same damn room. I don't know how it happened but it's certainly not because of incompetence on our part. It needs to be rectified immediately."

"I wish there was something I could do, Mister Fernandes. Unfortunately the hotel manager is stuck in her home because the city railways haven't been cleared yet and –"

"Well of course she is," he muttered. The space between his temples began to throb.

"The best I can do is offer you a discount on the room you're staying in? Maybe find you a room at another hotel?"

"Another hotel?" Jellal snapped. "If I somehow managed to secure a room at a hotel on the outskirts of town, explain to me how I'd be able to participate in the conference at all when you've just admitted the city's public transportation system is being held hostage by snow drifts?"

"Well, I –"

"And anyway, it's not as if a discount will matter to me personally! I didn't pay for it! The company I work for is footing the bill so I couldn't possibly care less about a discount! I want a room with a bed and a bathroom and I don't see why that's so unreasonable!"

"As soon as the manager makes it in today I will have her get in touch with you."

"That's the least reassuring thing anyone has said to me in the last eighteen hours."

A hand gently grasped his elbow and Jellal nearly deflated completely. He was making a scene. He hated making scenes.

"A call from the manager would be fine," Miss Scarlet said smoothly. "She can contact either one of us. Thank you for trying to help."

Jellal didn't bother to cage the glare he fixed on the morning clerk as Erza pulled him from the desk and toward a cluster of loveseats.

"Here." She pressed a paper cup of coffee into his hand and shook a bottle of Tylenol at him. "Sit. You need to relax."

Jellal fell onto the nearest couch and swallowed three of the pills. Erza hadn't gotten his coffee right, but he couldn't have expected her to know how he took it. She joined him on the cushions and folded her hands in her lap.

"Feel better?"

"I'm shocked you'd lower yourself to sit with me, Miss Scarlet, after your wild string of accusations this morning." He knew he should bite his tongue but he just didn't feel like it.

She smiled. "I deserved that, and I'm sorry. I should've warned you that I'm a restless sleeper. It seems that full disclosure isn't my strong suite. I apologize."

He sighed and picked at the sleeve around the coffee cup. "It doesn't matter if the manager ever makes it in. There's not going to be another room."

"Probably not but I think we can manage for a few more days." Jellal opened his mouth to reply but she went on quickly. "I promise to keep tabs on my temper and tell you in advance about important things. No more outbursts. I also promise to stay on my side of the bed as much as possible."

"What do you want in return?"

Erza shrugged and gathered her bag. "Nothing. You were a perfect gentleman." She stood and before turning to leave she smirked. "You could always promise to stop apologizing for things you didn't do."

"I guess that's fair." Erza left him alone on the loveseat and thinking that the morning hadn't been so bad after all.

* * *

Jellal wasn't sure if Erza actually tried to keep her promise of sticking to her side of the bed or not. The second time he woke to her weight on him he decided it wasn't _horrible_. He didn't _hate it_. Though he did doubt she'd be okay with how much he didn't hate it. Aside from the way she seemed to have no respect for boundaries while sleeping, Erza wasn't an unpleasant roommate. In the quiet moments before he drifted off to seep Jellal wished he had more time to spend with the woman whose life had disastrously collided with his.

The week-long conference meant tedious hours that stretched long into the night and early mornings that left him feeling as though years had been shaved from his life expectancy. By the time things began to crawl to a close Jellal was exhausted of living out of suitcases, but not quite so tired of sharing a bed. It had been a while since he'd been in a relationship and bunking with Erza only served to remind him that he'd be going back to an empty apartment.

Of course he told himself he wasn't attracted to her. He didn't really know anything about her! It was just the idea of not being alone that appealed.

On the night before the final day of meetings Jellal ran into Erza in the hotel bar trying to end a conversation with what appeared to be an aggressive colleague. He didn't doubt she could handle herself, but in a professional setting her temper was probably less than appropriate.

"Miss Scarlet! I've been looking for you everywhere!" The expression on her face wasn't anything other than naked gratitude. "Did you get lost?"

"Uh, no! No, I was just about to join you." She took his offered arm and held to it fiercely. "I'm terribly sorry to leave so suddenly, Mister Ichiya, but it was lovely seeing you again."

"Of course, my scarlet beauty. Next time we'll go someplace more private." The smallish man bowed deeply and grinned up at Erza in the most preposterously salacious way before disappearing into the crowd.

"Wow, you really know how to pick 'em." Jellal said choking back a laugh.

"That man is an inescapable little troll. One of these days I'm going to stab him in the eye with my heel." She steered him to a quieter corner of the bar. "Thanks for stepping in. I don't think my boss would like it very much if I flayed him."

"I'm sorry he –"

Erza reached over and placed the tip of her finger over his lips. "You promised! No apologizing! Now you have to buy me a drink to make up for it."

"I'm pretty sure you owe me several drinks for cutting off my circulation every night with your octopus-like way of sleeping."

She smiled and signaled for the bartender. "Well, let's get started then. I need a few stiff drinks."

In the end she got a lot more information out of him than she shared of herself. He told her which company he worked for and how often he'd considered quitting in the last year. It wasn't that he hated Magnolia, he just needed some air – and, no, a business trip to Crocus didn't count as a vacation. Erza's slowly dawning smile as he said these things stirred feelings of regret that they'd probably never see each other again after tomorrow.

The time was inching close to one in the morning when she pulled him away from the bar. Erza was silent in the elevator ride up to the fourth floor and he wished he'd had more drinks so there'd be an acceptable excuse to stare at her.

"What's your favorite thing about living in Magnolia?" she asked quietly.

"The Cherry Blossom Festival. I used to go every year but recently I've just been too busy."

"That's a shame. My grandmother used to say that you never can tell what'll happen at a festival." Erza smiled and stepped from the elevator. He followed behind her watching a few strands of her hair falling from the twist on the back of her head.

They stepped into the dark room and when the door clicked shut behind him Jellal ignored all rational thought and reached for her hand. Before turning to face him she toed off her heels and pulled the clip from her hair. The way she looked at him was both challenging and pleading. He wasn't sure if he backed _her_ against the _wall_ or if _she_ pulled _him_ against her – either way neither of them were drunk enough to have an excuse.

"I'm sorry b –"

"Don't you dare apologize before kissing me, Jellal." Her fingers curled around the lapels of his shirt and she quickly cut off any further speech. She kissed him with a soft urgency that made even the very tips of his fingers tingle as they finally slid through the strands of her hair. Every morning he'd had tangles of it in his face but never dared to touch. Now he realized every part of her was just as enticing and wanted more.

Her finger brush against his chest through the gap in his shirt buttons. He pulled back from her a fraction and found her eyes wide and questioning. With an unwavering gaze she pulled his shirttails free of his trousers and worked her way upwards releasing the buttons. Erza side stepped away from the wall and turned her back to him. She swept her hair over one shoulder, exposing the zipper of her dress.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked quietly, toying with the small, metal pull.

Her whispered consent was all he needed. Jellal pressed his lips to the side of her neck as he unzipped the dress and the straps fell from her shoulders. The maid had left their curtains open and he thought Erza looked even more beautiful wearing nothing but the moonlight.

* * *

He still couldn't decide if it had been a simple clerical error or fate. Most days he opted for the former because he refused to believe fate was so cruel a mistress. The morning after his last night with Erza he'd woken alone – the intoxicating Miss Scarlet left nothing behind but the scent of her shampoo on the pillows. Jellal told himself it was better that way. If given half the chance he'd have been tempted to ruin what they'd shared with pointless entreaties that would forever taint the memory of their impulsivity.

Now that he'd been back home for some time he could look back on the experience and wonder how two complete strangers had gone from the brink of total hatred to possibly the best sex of his life in the space of four days. The answer still eluded him.

Jellal grabbed his jacket on the way out the door, just in case. The evenings were still cool even in late April and he didn't want to be caught unaware. It had been a handful of years since he'd made a point to attend any part of the Cherry Blossom Festival that Magnolia was famous for. He wasn't the kind of person who minded being alone; but still, it would've been nice to have someone by his side.

The pink petals fell from the trees almost like a spring shower and he caught one in his palm. Jellal startled when he heard quiet laugh behind him.

"I'd ask if you came here often, but I think I already know the answer to that." Erza's voice both surprised and elated him.

"Erza!" he stumbled over his words. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"Well," she said with a smile. "You never did ask me where I was from, and I just didn't feel the need to tell you."

"You live here in Magnolia?" Jellal's voice cracked with shock.

"I grew up here."

"I see." He wasn't quite sure how he should be feeling but seeing her again made his heart thud inside his chest.

"Can I walk with you for a bit?"

"Uh, sure. Of course." Erza slid her arm around his and they strolled quietly beneath the trees on the lamp-lit trail.

"I'm sorry for leaving you like I did," she finally said softly. "It wasn't my intent to hurt you or be mean."

"You don't have to apologize." He nudged her with a gentle humor. "It was probably for the best that you did."

"It might be unreasonable to say so, but I hope you don't think that I didn't like you or that I didn't…" Erza cleared her throat awkwardly. " _Enjoy_ the time we spent together. It's just that I got swept away by the moment and knowing that we shared a home city…"

Jellal pulled her to a halt and smiled down at her. "I'm not upset with you. It was an intense situation brought on by unbelievable circumstance. I don't think space was a bad thing."

"I'm glad you came tonight. I was hoping you would."

"Well, if I recall correctly, one never can tell what'll happen at a festival."

Erza's lips curled into a grin before she shot up onto her toes and kissed him quickly. "If I promise not to walk away again maybe we could… start over?"

"Wow! A promise and an apology! I think I'm rubbing off on you."

"Yeah, well, don't get used to it." Erza took his hand and laced their fingers together. They wandered through the grove until the sun set and as he plucked a few stray petals from her hair he thought that maybe he'd been wrong. Perhaps fate wasn't as cruel as he'd assumed.


End file.
